Last of the Pure-Bloods
by TheShadowChild7
Summary: Lots of pure-blood families are slaughtered by power hungry wizards. Bellatrix uses the heirs to bring down everyone she deems dangerous. Loyal to no one but each other, the orphaned heirs set out to avenge their parents, but get more than they bargained for when they discover the ancient secrets of magic. AU. Warnings inside.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Everything you recognise belongs to J. K. Rowling. **

_**I. Author's Note(s): To clear things up, here are the main AU elements**_

_**II. Wizarding Britain is more medieval than Victorian**_

_**III. The Finnigans are pure-bloods**_

_**IV. The Potters are not killed until Harry is ten years old**_

_**V. There is no Minister for Magic, but rather a King of Wizarding Britain **_

_Chapter One_

Harry Potter ran blindly into the forest. He tripped over his own cloak and stumbled on rocks and protruding tree roots. They were behind him. He could feel them. Their distant growls sent shivers down his back and the blood dirtying the damp forest ground made him weak with fear.

He felt cowardly, running away from a battle when his mother and father had been murdered. But he was the firstborn, the only son; his only job was to continue the name of Potter. If he died at Godric's Hollow, the Potter line would cease to exist and it would be his fault.

The trees grew taller and thicker and covered up the night sky. Harry felt like the woods were caving in on him. The pale, unfriendly stars had provided a faint sense of cold comfort, a small light to guide him to somewhere other than his death. Now they were gone and he was alone with a mob of killers behind him and the howling of beasts and animals ahead of him.

Harry ran for as long as he could. The night grew blacker and the trees thicker. Until finally, mercifully, the woods started clearing up from beside him. But Harry didn't stop running. His enemies wouldn't halt at the sight of an open field. No, they'd charge faster, find him sooner.

A hand clamped firmly on Harry's mouth. He struggled against his nameless attacker. A strong arm wrapped itself around his waist and pulled him into the trees. Despite the danger, Harry scowled at himself. All this time and he hadn't thought of hiding _in _the woods instead of running from them.

"Shut up, boy! You're going to get us both killed," the person's voice growled.

It was a woman. Harry struggled in her grip, trying to at least see who she was if he didn't manage to escape her.

"Let me go," he gasped once she had taken her hand off his mouth.

"Silence," she ordered.

She forced him upon her horse and took off. Harry tried to jump off, but the woman had hands like iron.

"Who are you?" he demanded. "What do you want with me?"

The woman either didn't hear him or didn't pay him any mind. She rode into the darkness, not even casting a second glance at him. Only when she dismounted and tied the horse to a wooden pole did she look at him.

The woman pushed him off the horse and grabbed him roughly by the forearm.

"Let go!" he yelled at her. "Or I'm going to –,"

"To do what?" the woman interjected icily. "They killed your mother and father, boy. I've done you a favour."

"I don't need your help," Harry spat out at her.

It was too dark to see her face, but he was certain that she had aimed a cruel smile in his direction.

"You do not understand, do you, boy? The man who killed your father became Lord Potter by conquest. He became your stepfather. I just saved you from being tied to a malicious madman for a lord father."

She dragged him to the stone house in the distance. The door swung open for her and she pushed him inside, following closely behind.

"Give me your hand," she ordered.

Harry didn't move. The woman's eyes flashed with rage.

"I am not above using force, boy."

"I demand information," Harry said stonily, using his Heir Potter tone.

The woman shrugged slightly. "And I don't care. Give me your hand."

Not waiting for him to react, she pulled him by the wrist and unsheathed a knife with the other hand. Harry tried to pull back, but her grip was too tight. She pierced his finger with surprising gentleness and pressed an empty vial to it.

The blood ran into the vial and she put it back into her pocket, letting go of his wrist. Harry was certain she had left a bruise.

"Who are you?" he asked again.

The woman concentrated on pouring his blood into another vial, one which was full to the brim with a dark purple substance. _Is she going to poison me? I'm not going to drink that!_

"I am the woman who saved –,"

"I got it," Harry snapped. "What's your name? Whom do you serve? Why were you out for my family?"

"_I _was never out for your family and I serve no one but myself and my family."

"And your name?" Harry pressed.

He took advantage of the dim light in the room and stared up at her. She had an angular face and pronounced facial bones. Her hair was dark and plentiful. Harry thought it was quite reminiscent of a crow's nest.

"You still do not recognise me?" she said. "Shame. My name is Lady Bellatrix, Lady of the Noble and most Ancient House of Black."

"What do you want with me?" Harry demanded.

He had heard only stories about the Blacks. They were said to be madmen – bloodthirsty, greedy, lustful and hungry for power. Lady Bellatrix handed him the vial with the dark purple liquid. He didn't take it, so she forced it into his hand. It was very warm.

"Drink," she ordered, "and I will tell you everything you desire... As long as you make an oath to keep it a secret. Forever."

Harry looked at her in complete, but also justified mistrust. "What is that?"

"It is a potion that will bind you to me. That way your father's killer will no longer have control over you. Only I will. Essentially, it makes you my ward"

Harry stared. "Why do you think I'd willingly drink that?"

Lady Bellatrix smiled twistedly. "I will answer all of your question. After all, once you drink this, you will no longer be able to spill my secrets. If you do not drink it, I will momentarily hand you over to your father's murderer. He will be your _new _father. He will take you to his own side, whichever it may be, while I will never take either side of any war. You will not be involved in any battle."

Harry toyed with the vial. Deciding being held captive by a lady who seemed to care little about him was better than being held captive by the man who had killed his parents, he downed the potion. After all, the woman didn't seem sadistic or cruel. Merely uncaring.

Lady Bellatrix nodded, looking pleased. "Good. Now ask."

Harry looked around uncomfortably. "What do you want with me? How did you know where I'd be? _Why _did you want me?"

Bellatrix smiled slyly. "I intend on answering those questions truthfully, but first I must tell you that you are truly easy to trick. I told you I'd answer your questions, that I'd tell you what you desired, not that I'd tell you the truth. Your naivety will get you in trouble, boy."

Harry cursed under his breath, but before he could berate himself, Lady Bellatrix began speaking again.

"I want you away from my enemies. You could be useful and I cannot have you on the opposite side of the battlefield. You come from a politically powerful family. Earlier today, I received intelligence from a very reliable source that your family would be attacked."

"Why didn't you do anything to stop them?" Harry interrupted angrily.

"Because that would mean my and my source's deaths. My stepping in would not help you; it would only get me killed, meaning My stepping in would not help you; it would only get me killed, meaning _you_'d be killed as well, as there would be no one to save you. What, do you think you could keep running forever?"

Harry scowled at her. "Will I be in here forever?"

"Forever?" Lady Bellatrix's eyes softened. "Of course not. You will be off to Hogwarts next year, under a different name, of course, and you will most definitely be alone here. I didn't do this just for you, Harry Potter. There was a manslaughter today. The lords of Potter, Longbottom, Nott, Malfoy, Finnigan, Lestrange, Brown, Smith, Abbott, Macmillan and Bones were assassinated by Cornelius Fudge and his men. Fudge wants power. He's always wanted lordships, but he comes from an insignificant family. So he became lord by conquest. Lord by killing the other lords. Fudge sent twenty men to each lord's family. I narrowly escaped the Lestrange attack. Cornelius promised his men they would keep the titles, but obviously, he was lying. At dawn, as my sources told me, he will assassinate his men to take their stolen titles."

She paused there and Harry took a deep, calming breath. It was too much for one night.

"So I decided to send men of my own. Three hundred, to be precise. I sent them to spy on each of these families and bring me back the heirs. You will soon be joined here by –," Lady Bellatrix stopped long enough to pull out a scroll of parchment, "Neville Longbottom, Draco Malfoy, Theodore Nott, Seamus Finnigan, Lavender Brown, Zacharias Smith, Hannah Abbott, Ernest Macmillan and Susan Bones."

Harry nodded numbly. "So... all these people... are coming here?"

Bellatrix nodded, glancing at the grandfather clock by the arched dome connecting the drawing room and the old-fashioned piano room. Remembering what the house looked like from the outside, Harry supposed it was enchanted to fit so many rooms.

"Despite our... vast number of guests, you will be my most important one, Harry Potter. You are now my son by blood. You are Lord Lestrange."

Harry made a face of displeasure. "Can I keep the name Potter?"

"I will not force you to take my husband's name, Merlin rest his soul, but I cannot let you keep the name Potter either."

Harry frowned. "Why not?"

"Use your head, boy," Lady Bellatrix snapped. "If someone hears the name Potter, they will try to get close to you for their own fortune. Now if someone hears, say, the name Smith, they don't think of anyone significant. So, I would supposedly let Zacharias Smith keep his name. I doubt Cornelius knows half of the titles he took."

"So I'm the only one who will have to live with a secret identity?" Harry said, feeling irritable and upset.

"No," Lady Bellatrix said. "I will also have to change Longbottom's identity. You will most probably enrol as twin brothers. Yes, that works... I will not bother with Malfoy – his family bribed Fudge for years, hoping he would one day move up from equerry to king and favour them. Of course, Unbreakable Vows, as the name suggest, are rather risky to break, so Fudge won't be touching Malfoy..."

Harry got the feeling that Lady Bellatrix was talking to herself. He hadn't known that Fudge had sworn an Unbreakable Vow to the Malfoys, or that he used to be an equerry. Nevertheless, he didn't interrupt her. If he had to be honest with himself, he was quite wary of interrupting her. Now that his fury had faded, Harry felt intimidated by Lady Bellatrix. She was tall and had an aristocratic look that clearly said you were done if you didn't do as she said.

Besides that, he was suddenly aware of how tired he was. Dawn was nearing, but running away from Godric's Hollow felt like days ago for him. Harry shivered slightly, remembering that Lady Bellatrix had said Cornelius Fudge would kill his men at dawn.

Bellatrix's eyes softened when she saw Harry struggling to stay awake. This wasn't going to be easy for any of them. And to make matters worse, Narcissa was dead. Sirius and Regulus had disappeared without a trace. _Perhaps_, Bellatrix thought, _I should try to reunite with Andromeda. I remember she had a daughter..._

Harry had time to ask her one more question, one which had just popped into his mind when he was thinking about his parents' teachings.

"You're a Black, right?"

Bellatrix nodded. Where was he going with this?

"So you support King Riddle, Lord of the West. You work for him. You serve him."

"That is what the world thinks," Bellatrix said softly. "That is what King Riddle thinks. That is not what I really do."

Harry's eyes dropped and he fell asleep within seconds. Bellatrix transfigured a quill into a thick blanket and covered him with it, feeling a faint sense of irritation. She, Bellatrix Lestrange, was not a mother. She was a warrior.

Before she could work herself up, she heard someone entering the wards. It was two of her men, each with a different heir in a strong grip. One of them had dirty blonde hair and black eyes and the other was a sandy-haired boy with an expression of utter fury. Bellatrix ushered them in and the men disappeared. Bellatrix silenced the heirs and began explaining what she had already told Harry. With an internal groan, she realised she would have to repeat those words _a lot_.


End file.
